Microsoft Discovers Zero-Day Exploit In IE8
Being the most commonly used browser in the universe has its positives, but there's also a downside: when an exploit is found, it needs to be patched in a hurry. Otherwise, a huge, huge amount of people sit at risk, and your brand could suffer. Microsoft is no stranger to issuing patches, and Internet Explorer has certainly seen its fair share of issues over the years. Now, Microsoft has published a document detailing a recently-found zero-day bug in IE8 -- which just so happens to be Microsoft's most popular version of the browser.
Reports suggest that the vulnerability has been used in active exploits, including acts against the U.S. government. Here's Microsoft's take: "This is a remote code execution vulnerability. The vulnerability exists in the way that Internet Explorer accesses an object in memory that has been deleted or has not been properly allocated. The vulnerability may corrupt memory in a way that could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user within Internet Explorer. An attacker could host a specially crafted website that is designed to exploit this vulnerability through Internet Explorer and then convince a user to view the website."
The company goes on to say that after the investigation, it'll "ake the appropriate action to protect our customers, which may include providing a solution through our monthly security update release process, or an out-of-cycle security update, depending on customer needs."
For now, we might suggest switching your browsing to Chrome or Firefox. Well, honestly, we'd suggest doing that anyway -- IE8 isn't exactly the most sophisticated browser on the market these days.
Reports suggest that the vulnerability has been used in active exploits, including acts against the U.S. government. Here's Microsoft's take: "This is a remote code execution vulnerability. The vulnerability exists in the way that Internet Explorer accesses an object in memory that has been deleted or has not been properly allocated. The vulnerability may corrupt memory in a way that could allow an attacker to execute arbitrary code in the context of the current user within Internet Explorer. An attacker could host a specially crafted website that is designed to exploit this vulnerability through Internet Explorer and then convince a user to view the website."
The company goes on to say that after the investigation, it'll "ake the appropriate action to protect our customers, which may include providing a solution through our monthly security update release process, or an out-of-cycle security update, depending on customer needs."
For now, we might suggest switching your browsing to Chrome or Firefox. Well, honestly, we'd suggest doing that anyway -- IE8 isn't exactly the most sophisticated browser on the market these days.
